How to Count Carbs for Better Blood Sugar Control

Learn more about the program >>

Your doctor may have told you to “count carbs” or use something called the glycemic index to plan your meals. A healthy diet consists of a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. However, people with type 2 diabetes need to watch carbohydrates carefully. Why? Because when any food that contains carbohydrates is digested, it turns into sugar, which increases your blood-glucose level. It’s pretty basic: Eating too many carbs can raise the amount of sugar in your bloodstream and lead to complications. The key for people like you with type 2 diabetes is to eat carbs in limited amounts at each meal and when you snack. Total carbs should make up about 45 to 60 percent of your daily diet (and be spaced out throughout the day) if you have type 2 diabetes.

There’s no one diet that works for everyone with type 2 diabetes — there are just too many variables: Age, weight, level of physical activity, medications, as well as daily routine and personal preference need to be taken into account. So here’s where your diabetes care team comes in: Talk to your dietitian or diabetes educator to determine the right carb-counting number for you so you’ll be able to provide your body with a steady flow of energy throughout the day, maintain a healthy weight, and manage your blood sugar.

The Basics of Counting Carbs

Counting carbs is an effective way to monitor your carb intake and keep sugar from building up in the blood. You can use these basic tips to help manage your carb consumption:

• Foods that contain carbohydrates include starches, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, beans, and sweets. Most people with type 2 diabetes should stick to eating around 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per meal.
• For foods that have nutrition labels, add up the grams of carbohydrates per serving and, generally, stick to one serving size. If you eat more than one serving, you’ll have to take this into account.
• For foods without nutrition labels, estimate the amount of carbohydrates by using a diabetic exchange chart. For example, one small piece of fresh fruit has about 15 grams of carbohydrates.
• Remember carb counting for beverages. Fruit juices and alcoholic beverages in particular add lots of carbs.

You can check the carbohydrate count in any food by using Everyday Health’s Calorie Counter tool any time.

Next step: Make Fitness Work for You

10 Beverage Dos and Don’ts for Diabetes

Drinks can provide nutrition and hydration, but they can also add unnecessary calories and sugar to your diet. Learn which beverages are best for diabetes…

By Madeline R. Vann, MPHJune 4, 2023

Diabetes in Black Americans: How to Lower Your Risk

Various factors have left Black Americans more prone to type 2 diabetes and its related complications compared with other groups. Here’s what researchers…

By Tracy E. HopkinsMay 16, 2023

What Are the Signs of High and Low Blood Sugar?

Keeping blood sugar within a healthy range is important when you’re diabetic. We interviewed diabetes healthcare providers to get their insight on what…

By K. Aleisha FettersMay 1, 2023

10 Fiber-Rich Foods for Your Diabetes Diet

What high-fiber foods can help type 2 diabetics manage their blood sugar levels and avoid dips and spikes? Follow this list of fiber-rich foods for diabetes…

By Diana RodriguezApril 20, 2023

Best and Worst Breads for People With Type 2 Diabetes

Top choices for people with type 2 diabetes include whole-grain breads, sprouted breads, and breads fermented with sourdough starter, like pumpernickel…

By Barbie Cervoni, RD, CDEApril 15, 2023

The Best Seafood for People With Diabetes

A stronger heart, a longer life, and a slimmer waistline are all potential benefits of filling your plate with seafood when managing diabetes.

By Margaret O’MalleyApril 10, 2023

Counting Carbohydrates :: Diabetes Education Online

Home » Living With Diabetes » Diet And Nutrition » Understanding Carbohydrates » Counting Carbohydrates

• Learning To Read Labels »
• «
  Understanding Carbohydrates

To best control your blood sugar:

• Eat three meals a day, roughly 4–6 hours apart.
• Do not skip meals.
• Try to consistently eat the same amount of carbohydrate at each meal.

Counting calories might be something you’ve already done at one time or another in your life. Counting carbohydrates may be something new to you. So why is counting carbohydrates so important when you have diabetes?

Counting carbohydrates:

• Keeps you in control of your blood sugar
• Keeps you in balance with with your medication or insulin dose
• Keeps you in control of food portions to manage your body weight

How much carbohydrate do I need each day?

Carbohydrates are measured in units called grams. Grams are a measure of weight.

The total grams or amount of carbohydrate you need each day depends on your calorie goals, activity level and personal preferences.

Carbohydrates generally provide 45-65% of your daily calories.

For most people with type 1 diabetes, this ranges from 150-250 grams of carbohydrate a day. How you distribute this carbohydrate throughout the day can also make a difference in your blood sugar.

To best control your blood sugar:

• Eat three meals a day, roughly 4-6 hours apart.
• Do not skip meals.
• Try to consistently eat the same amount of carbohydrate at each meal.

Your registered dietitian can help you choose a carbohydrate goal and daily meal plan that keeps your food, medication and physical activity in mind.

How much carbohydrate is found in the foods I eat?

There are many resources you can use to count carbohydrates:

• Nutrition Facts food labels on packaged foods list the total grams of carbohydrate.
• The American Diabetes Association Exchange Lists for Meal Planning: Choose Your Foods lists grams of carbohydrate per exchange serving size. In this system, one carbohydrate exchange serving equals 15 grams of carbohydrate.
• Carbohydrate counting and food composition books are available. These resources can also be found online.
• Some cookbooks are available that provide nutrition information.
• Many restaurant chains, including fast food outlets, have brochures available that list nutrition information for each of their offerings. This nutrition information often includes the amount of carbohydrates and will save you from having to make your own calculations.
• Computer software programs for hand-held devices.
• Some insulin pumps.

Learn how to count carbohydrates in the following sections using:

• Food Nutrition Labels
• Carbohydrate Exchange Lists
• Weighing the food

What do I need to get started counting carbohydrates?

To get you started counting carbohydrates, pick up these items:

• A calculator
• Measuring cups
• A food scale

It is tempting to “eyeball” or “guesstimate” food measurements. However, when you first begin carbohydrate counting, don’t guess. Use measuring cups to see what portion sizes look like – you may be surprised! For some foods, weighing out your food portion on a food scale may also be helpful. Estimating 1/2 cup of breakfast cereal, or selecting one ounce of bread or fruit isn’t as easy as you might think.

To sum up, here are some tips about getting started with carbohydrate counting:

1. With any new skill, carbohydrate counting takes practice. To improve your confidence and accuracy, measure your foods.
2. Remember to count carbohydrates from all food sources – starch and sugars. This includes milk and yogurt, fruit and starchy vegetables too– not just breads, pasta, rice and cereals!
3. If you eat too much carbohydrate, your blood sugar will be too high, and if you eat too little carbohydrate for the medication dose, your blood sugar may get too low. Eat a similar amount of carbohydrate at similar times day to day.
   • When you have type 1 diabetes you need to match your insulin dose to the amount of carbohydrates in your food.
   • And when you have type 2 diabetes, and are treated with insulin or medicines that increase insulin secretion from your pancreas, you also need to match your medication or insulin dose to the amount of carbohydrates in your food.
4. Start a food diary to keep track of your carbohydrate counting. You can also learn more about your eating patterns. Try starting with 3 days of tracking. Write down everything that you have to eat or drink, including portion sizes. Use this information to help make adjustments in your meal plan. Bring your food diary to your diabetes appointments to share with your health care team.

Tools to help you with your carbohydrate counting:

• View and print a sample three day food diary log .
• View and print instructions on why keeping food records is important and how to fill them out.

Self-assessment Quiz

Self assessment quizzes are available for topics covered in this website. To find out how much you have learned about Understanding Carbohydrates, take our self assessment quiz when you have completed this section. The quiz is multiple choice. Please choose the single best answer to each question. At the end of the quiz, your score will display. If your score is over 70% correct, you are doing very well. If your score is less than 70%, you can return to this section and review the information.

• Learning To Read Labels »
• «
  Understanding Carbohydrates

Nutrition in type 2 diabetes and overweight

The use of any medication in type 2 diabetes still cannot fully compensate for the impact of malnutrition on blood glucose levels. Proper nutrition is an essential part of effective type 2 diabetes management and will help you reach your blood glucose targets.

Nutritional approaches for people with type 2 diabetes who are or are not overweight, have hypertension, etc. will vary somewhat.

The vast majority of overweight people with type 2 diabetes. Excess weight prevents its own insulin from acting effectively, which is why blood glucose levels remain high. Therefore, weight loss is an indispensable condition for rational treatment! Even moderate weight loss (by 5-10%) improves carbohydrate metabolism, especially in the early period of the disease.

How to achieve weight loss?
It should be noted right away that there are no specific products or medicinal plants for weight loss. Currently, there are no medications that by themselves, without dieting, could provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss.

The only reliable way is to limit the intake of energy (it is indicated in calories), i.e. compliance with regulations low-calorie nutrition . The resulting energy deficit leads to the fact that the energy reserves “conserved” in adipose tissue will be spent on various needs of the body, and the weight will definitely decrease.
Energy carriers in food are its three components: proteins, fats and carbohydrates . The most high-calorie of them are fats, they contain 9kcal in 1 gram; in proteins and carbohydrates – 4 kcal per 1 gram.
The most effective way to reduce the calorie content of a diet is to reduce its fat content. This is not only safe, but also useful for a modern person, since our diet, unfortunately, is oversaturated with fats. Compared to fats, the calorie content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, however, in order to achieve a good effect in weight loss, they still need to be slightly limited.

There are a number of products that do not need to be restricted when losing weight. On the contrary, it is these products that can compensate for the above restrictions and replenish the reduced amount of food. This food group is represented mainly by vegetables, which are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as well as plant fibers which are not digestible. Vegetable fibers bring many benefits to the body: they improve intestinal function, help the absorption of vitamins, have a beneficial effect on fat metabolism, etc.

There are three groups of products that should be consumed in different ways in order to reduce weight. Looking at these groups, you will definitely have an association with a traffic light.

• Maximum limit

High calorie foods: rich in fats, alcohol, sugar and confectionery

Examples: any butter, lard, sour cream, mayonnaise; cream, fatty cottage cheese and cheese; oily fish, poultry skin, canned meat; fish and vegetable in oil; fatty meat, smoked meats, sausages; sugar, sweet drinks, honey, jam, jams, sweets, cakes, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic drinks.

• Moderately limit (eat half of the usual portion)

Medium calorie products: protein, starchy, dairy products, fruits and berries.

Examples: regular fat or non-fat/fat-free milk and dairy products, cheeses less than 30% fat, cottage cheese less than 4% fat, eggs, lean meats, fish, pasta, bread and non-rich baked goods, cereals; fruits, potatoes, corn, mature grains of peas and beans.

• Consume without restriction

Low calorie foods: vegetables (excluding potatoes, corn, mature peas and beans) and low calorie drinks.

Examples: radishes, radishes, beets, carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, marrows, eggplants, beans, young green peas, lettuce, herbs, spinach, sorrel, any cabbage; tea, coffee without sugar and cream, mineral water.

Is it possible to maintain a low-calorie diet without counting calories?

This is quite possible, if you follow the principles of product selection outlined above. Moreover, experts have long recognized that it is not the number of calories that a person needs to consume (it is quite difficult to specify it exactly for each person), but the one by which a person actually reduced his diet is important!

The indicator of the correct observance of the principles of low-calorie nutrition will be the achievement of the result: weight loss! If the weight does not decrease, this indicates that it has not yet been possible to significantly reduce the caloric content of the diet.

How do different carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels?

Carbohydrates are the only nutrients that directly increase blood glucose, but this is not a reason to limit them drastically.
Carbohydrates in the diet of any person, including a person with diabetes, should be enough (at least 50% of total calories), as they are a source of energy for the body. Moreover, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood glucose levels.

There are simple carbohydrates (called sugars) that are very easy to digest because they are small molecules and are quickly absorbed in the digestive tract (as early as 10 minutes). They immediately and very strongly increase the level of glucose in the blood. It is from these carbohydrates that sugar, honey are made, a lot of them are found in fruit juices (they are also found in natural fruit, but due to the presence of fiber, the absorption of carbohydrates is not so fast), beer. Such carbohydrates are also found in liquid dairy products, but due to the fat content, carbohydrates are not absorbed as quickly.

Another type of carbohydrates is complex (starch), they also increase blood glucose levels, but not as quickly and not as much as simple carbohydrates. Representatives of such products: bread, cereals, pasta, potatoes, corn. The starch molecule is large, and in order to assimilate it, the body has to work hard. Therefore, the glucose formed as a result of the breakdown of starch is absorbed more slowly (after about 30 minutes), which increases its level in the blood to a lesser extent.

Culinary processing of starchy foods (any grinding, prolonged thermal exposure) contributes to the rise in blood glucose levels. This means that a strong increase in blood glucose when eating starches can be prevented by using certain methods of processing and cooking. For example, it is more correct to cook potatoes not in the form of mashed potatoes, but to boil them whole in their skins, so that they remain dense. It is also better not to cook porridge for too long. It is preferable to cook them from large uncrushed grains (buckwheat, rice).

Enrichment of food with plant fibers prevents an increase in blood glucose levels. Therefore, it is better to buy grain or bran bread, and not from fine flour. Fruits and berries should be consumed in their natural form, not in the form of juices.

There are such types of carbohydrate products – “free” , after which the level of glucose in the blood does not rise or rises slightly. These products include almost all types of vegetables in normal quantities (except potatoes). For example, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, dill, radish, turnip, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkin, pepper, etc. Among the products of this group, the largest amount of carbohydrates is found in beets and carrots, but the rise in blood glucose after them is not very large. Therefore, if you eat them in moderation (as a side dish, no more than 200 g), they can also be ignored.

Do I need to count carbohydrates?
A person with type 2 diabetes who is taking oral antidiabetic drugs or is just on a diet does not need to accurately calculate the amount of carbohydrates in food. Many people with diabetes have heard of the so-called bread units. A system of such calculation exists for those who receive insulin. It allows you to correlate the amount of carbohydrates consumed with the doses of short-acting insulin that these people with diabetes inject before meals.

Special “diabetic” foods
Sweeteners can make food taste sweeter without raising blood glucose or gaining weight. But in this case we are talking only about non-caloric sugar substitutes. These include aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, stevioside. They do not affect blood glucose levels and weight at all. However, most “diabetic” foods (cookies, chocolate, waffles) instead of sugar contain sorbitol, xylitol or fructose, which are almost as high in calories as sugar. Therefore, when overweight, they must be limited as much as possible, like regular sweets.

Fractional diet

Fractional diet means multiple meals during the day (5-6 times, but still not more than every 2. 5-3 hours) in small portions. This is useful because hunger can occur when following a low-calorie diet. Eating more often will help reduce it. In addition, a small portion of food contains few carbohydrates, and this will facilitate the work of the pancreas.

Alcohol
Due to its high calorie content (7 kcal per 1 g), alcohol can contribute to weight gain. In addition, it directly worsens the indicators of fat metabolism and blood pressure. So limit your alcohol intake as much as possible.

Alcohol is known to have adverse effects on the liver. It can cause hypoglycemia if a person with diabetes is on glucose-lowering drugs and insulin. Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!

Nutrition for diabetes – https://www.korenovsk.ru

11/14/2018 Svetlana Yundina News, Department of Social Affairs

Diabetes mellitus is associated with metabolic disorders, it is based on insufficient absorption of glucose by the body. Type 2 diabetes often occurs in the background obesity .

In diabetes mellitus, the nutrition of the patient plays an important role. For mild type 2 diabetes, dietary nutrition is the mainstay of treatment. In moderate and severe form of diabetes diet must be combined with the intake of hypoglycemic drugs or insulin . In type I diabetes mellitus, the occurrence of which is associated with the death of beta cells of the pancreas and insulin deficiency, insulin replacement therapy is the main method of treatment. Compliance with the regimen and dietary nutrition in type 1 diabetes mellitus are of an auxiliary nature.

What is a “bread unit”?

What is the rate of carbohydrate-containing foods per day should be consumed by patients with diabetes? All carbohydrate-containing products differ significantly from each other in their physical properties, composition, and calorie content. It is impossible to measure all these important food parameters in any one familiar home way – with a spoon or a glass. It is no less difficult to determine the required volume of the daily norm of products without special knowledge and without seeing clear guidelines for yourself. To make things easier, nutritionists introduced a conditional concept used for diabetic patients – a bread unit.

Bread unit – a kind of “measuring spoon” for calculating carbohydrates. Regardless of the type and quantity of the product, be it bread or an apple, one bread unit contains 12-15 grams of digestible carbohydrates. It raises the blood sugar level by the same amount – 2.8 mmol / l – and requires 2 units of insulin for absorption by the body.

The bread unit was introduced specifically for diabetic patients receiving insulin. After all, it is very important for them to comply with the daily daily intake of carbohydrates corresponding to the injected insulin. Otherwise, they may experience an increase or decrease in blood sugar – hyper- or hypoglycemia. Thanks to the introduction of the concept of a bread unit, diabetic patients were able to correctly compose a menu, competently replacing some carbohydrate-containing products with others.

For example, 1 bread unit corresponds to 25-30 grams of white or black bread, or 1/2 cup of buckwheat or oatmeal, or 1 medium-sized apple, or 2 pieces of prunes, etc.

Approximately 18-25 bread units should enter the human body per day. It is advisable to distribute them into six meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3-5 bread units, in afternoon snacks – 1-2 bread units. Most of the carbohydrate-containing foods should be in the first half of the day.

What can not be eaten with diabetes and how to correctly determine the required norm of carbohydrate-containing products? To answer all these questions, a person with diabetes needs to complete appropriate training at special schools for people with diabetes.

Principles of therapeutic nutrition

The diet must be physiologically competent:

The amount of energy in food should be equal to the energy needs of the patient.

For overweight diabetics, in order to increase the feeling of fullness, it is necessary to include vegetables such as fresh and sauerkraut, lettuce, spinach, green peas, cucumbers, tomatoes in the diet. To improve the function of the liver , which suffers significantly in diabetes, it is necessary to introduce foods containing lipotropic factors (cottage cheese, soy, oatmeal, etc.) into the diet, as well as limit meat, fish broths and fried foods in the diet.

There are several options for diets for diabetics, but practically at home you can use one (diet 9), which can be easily adapted to the treatment of any patient, excluding or adding certain dishes or products.

The diet is allowed to include:

• Bread and bakery products – mainly black bread (200-350 grams per day, as directed by doctor ).

• Soups on vegetable broth, on weak meat and fish broth with a small amount of vegetables (1-2 times a week).

• Meat and poultry dishes (beef, veal, lean pork, turkey, boiled or aspic rabbit).

• Fish dishes, mostly low-fat (pike-perch, cod, pike, navaga, carp, etc., boiled or aspic).

• Vegetable dishes and side dishes (leafy greens, cabbage (white, cauliflower), lettuce, swede, radish, cucumbers, zucchini, potatoes, beets, carrots) boiled, raw and baked.

• Dishes and side dishes from cereals , legumes, pasta (in limited quantities, occasionally, while reducing the amount of bread in the diet).

• Egg dishes (no more than 2 pieces per day in the form of an omelet or soft-boiled, and also to add to other dishes).

• Sour and sweet and sour varieties of fruits and berries (Antonov apples, lemons, oranges, red currants, cranberries and others) up to 200 grams per day in raw form, in the form of compotes on xylitol or sorbitol. With the permission of the doctor, you can use sweet dishes and specially prepared diabetic products.

• Milk – with the permission of a doctor, kefir, yogurt (only 1-2 glasses a day), cottage cheese (50-200 grams per day) in its natural form or in the form of cottage cheese, cheesecakes and puddings.

• Non-spicy sauces on vegetable broth with vinegar, tomato puree, roots, as well as dairy.

• Tea with milk, weak coffee, tomato juice, fruit and berry juices (up to 5 glasses of liquid with soup a day).

• Butter, vegetable oil (40 grams total per day in free form and for cooking).

The diet of a diabetic patient should be rich in vitamins , so it is useful to introduce brewer’s and baker’s yeast, rosehip broth into the diet.

Contraindicated:

• sweets, chocolate, confectionery, muffins, jam, honey, ice cream and other sweets;

• spicy, spicy, salty and smoked snacks and dishes, mutton and pork fat;

• pepper, mustard;

• alcoholic beverages;

• grapes, bananas, raisins;

• Sugar is allowed only in small quantities with the permission of a doctor.